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Get over the war and help 'deliver firepower' to the west, Hammond tells Germany
Defence secretary says Europe's largest economy should do more to assist Nato
U.S. focusing increasingly on Asia-Pacific region
gemäß dem britischen Defence Seretary Philip Hammond soll Deutschland seine aus dem 2. Weltkrieg erwachsene Verantwortung vergessen und mehr Feuerkraft liefern, um die NATO und die USA bei ihren Kriegen zu unterstützen. Wird denen wohl langsam zu teuer...
Germany needs to forget World War Two and help 'deliver firepower' for Nato and the West, British defence secretary Philip Hammond has said.
He insisted that Europe's largest economy had ample scope to increase its military effectiveness and urged the country to 'pick up the burden', despite its historic reluctance to deploy and operate overseas.
Mr Hammond said that although Germany had spent only a little less on defence in absolute terms than France and Britain, the amount was much smaller in proportion to its economy.
Speaking after talks in Berlin with German defence minister Thomas de Maiziere, he said he did not expect the country to spend more on the military during the financial crisis, but insisted improvements could be made.
He said: 'Due to Germany’s historic reluctance to deploy and operate overseas, I think it is self-evident that there is still huge potential in German defence structures to deliver more usable firepower to the [Nato] alliance,' he said.
'[It is about] a willingness to pick up the burdens that go with having a globally important economy... Germany recognising that it can’t continue to be the dominant economy in Europe without also significantly increasing its military capability.'
Europe's security and defence needs all the help it can get, with the U.S. focusing increasingly on the Asia-Pacific region.
The U.S. has long complained that most European allies, including Germany, fail to spend the two per cent of economic output required by NATO on defence. In Europe, only Britain, France, Greece and Albania meet the target.
But with Germany, Britain and much of Europe focused on reducing public debt, that is unlikely to change any time soon.
This is not about the budget but about turning the forces it is already paying for into a more deployable, more usable force,' said Mr Hammond.
He praised the country’s move to a professional army from one based on conscription and its involvement in overseas Nato missions in the Balkans and Afghanistan, where the German contingent is the third largest after U.S. and British forces.
Last year, Germany upset its Nato allies by abstaining from a UN Security Council vote authorising military action in Libya.
The country also remained firmly on the sidelines during an aerial bombing campaign led by France and Britain.
But Mr Hammond called the Libya issue as a 'minor setback' on the path to what he saw as a more proactive Germany, which is moving beyond its post-World War Two inhibitions about sending troops overseas.
He said: 'I detect a determination here that Germany’s role in Nato should continue to normalise... and that it intends to continue to become a more significant player among the nations in protecting our collective security.'
